Differences in Belgium

They put in a new control panel on the elevator in our building. We had to use the steps for a day and a half, and the elevator men were obviously having some difficulties with it. The new panel has much nicer touch on the buttons and looks much more modern and professional. But you still have to wait for twenty seconds after you push the button for the door to close. There is still no door close button. And now you have look really hard to find your floor number. The elevator is quite dim and they are engraved numbers beside the buttons. It is too dark to see them without a flashlight. If you randomly press one of the higher buttons, you can't tell which floor you have found when the door opens without stepping into the hall, turning on the light, and then reading the small sign by the door to one of the flats. The light stays on for about one minute. Of course if you live here, you get used to what button to push, but it is kind of funny that it is so poorly done.

The other funny thing: first you unlock the door to the building and walk into a about twenty foot square. It is dim but you are only going over to the door for your side of the building so it doesn't matter.

Then you have to unlock the door for your side of the building and walk down a very dark hallway for fifteen feet and push the elevator button. The elevator button is not lit and the buttons to turn the lights on are mostly not lit, although there is one five feet past the elevator that is lit. It is hard to find the elevator button in the dark.

Then you go in the dinky, tiny elevator and get to your floor and use your key yet a third time to get into your room. The keys are not at all like American keys, much more complex, and are well over a hundred dollars apiece. And if you lose it, every lock in the building must be redone so it costs thousands of dollars.

The second huge difference here is that five years ago there was a huge obsession with sex. The advertisements, the dress (or lack thereof), and even the mannerisms of the students showed that was all anybody thought about. I haven't seen a single questionable ad since we got here lately, no topless girls (although there was one old lady with a really revealing blouse that was kind of funny), and things are much more modest here.

The third difference is that when we came last time, we had lots of work and education on garbage sorting. White glass/brown glass/plastics/green garbage/paper/metal/etc. They still have glass recycling everywhere and David says you CAN sort the plastics, but it has pretty much played out its course. I guess they realized that the gas and resources used to recycle aren't always worth it.

Nobody here is talking about politics, although I saw a sign that said "Stop the political circus" and thought how well that applied to America. It isn't like in 2004 where people wanted to lecture us about Bush. Back then, when we said we were American their first words were "You go tell Bush...." In fact, I don't see America as the headline on all the news and not getting the press it did five years ago.

Day at the Beach - Kind Of?

This morning, we got up early and took Martha to the bus for a goodbye. We really have had a super time the last few days. It is fun for both David and I to be tour guides.

Then Allen came over and we caught the train to the beach. We went to the North Sea and then caught a tram that ran along the edge of the country, somewhat near the shore. Sometimes we caught glimpses of old German lookout stations from WW II.

We enjoyed looking at the water and the beautiful homes and Allen and I went wading in the water as soon as we go to the first small town. Sweet!

We got back on the tram and went on up to Oostende, a couple of hours on the tram, and the biggest seaside vacation spot in Belgium. Nobody was on the beach, just police. They were all standing back behind the boardwalk.

It took a while for us to find out that someone had discovered a bomb in the water. So no swimming today for anybody. It was apparently a leftover bomb from World War II. Perhaps there is a news article on it somewhere on the internet. I don't know.


I found a nice little stand that sold shrimp and bought a dish of five with garlic sauce and carrots. HUGE shrimp. You can see the last one in the picture. But oops, it wasn't really shrimp. You know that stuff that is really some kind of mystery fish that they extrude and pretend it is crab? These are the same things only really cheap fish and shaped like shrimp. So I guess the joke was on me.

We got back to Antwerp and stopped at Subway -- Allen was delighted to have a place he recognized.

I soaked my poor feet which now look even worse AND are covered in mosquito bites. I finally had a chance to just talk to Allen. But he left at 9 to get to bed early and David and I will be doing the same. Good night!

Day in Brugges

My friend Martha has come to visit us in Belgium for a few days. Today we went to Brugges. This is the all-time most peaceful place I'd love to live on the face of the planet. It was a gorgeous day, crowded but not too much, and we walked around, took the boat ride, got some chocolates and lace, and walked some more. We had a dinner at a nice outdoor cafe on the square.

I did get a little bit of burn. Zebra stripes -- on my feet!!!

Brugges is known for its swans as well. We learned that swans love fries. Yuck!

There was a little "band" of Irish "kids" that sang and played some instruments. They put out their hat and made seventy euro in an hour. They were having a good time, even if they weren't real good singers. They had a pickpocket monitoring the show, but I don't know if he got anyone.

Day 3

Goeden dag!

Stupid cold!

Church

Old Friends

Missed bus

Walking

David cooked

Took nap

Blew nose

Ate chocolate

Called Mom

HATE COLDS!

Day 2 in Antwerp

I didn't have the best night's sleep. I have a cold, which woke me up, plus the mosquito buzzing around, and David didn't sleep well with his jetlag, so I only got about two hours of sleep. I don't do well if I get woken up at night and if I am woken up three times, you can forget it.

Today we met some new friends for lunch, the parents of Alex H (Diane and Hilton) who used to live in Harrisonburg. We tried to go one place, which was closed, so then on to another place, which was closed, and probably walked over two miles before we found a nice place to eat. Classes are out so anything near the University is closed down for the summer.

We ate at a restaurant in a square in front of an old church. Today is a big celebration in Antwerp, and the theme of the celebration is the independence of Flanders, the northern Flemish section, from the Walloon, the southern French section. There is also a tiny little corner that is German, but that is really kind of a bad joke.

So in the square they had a little drum band and singers and people selling flags and t-shirts and books calling for Flanders' independence.

It used to be that the southern half supported the northern half, and it is now vice versa. Belgium is kind of a "made up" country anyway, created to make a buffer between the French and Germans.

Anyway, after the nice lunch, we went to an old church that is open to tourists three days a year and saw all kinds of neat things "behind the scenes", presented by an old Captain who fought in World War II. I am sure David will say more on his blog about it.

Diane and I went to see my friend Annie, whom I had seen yesterday as well. We got mosquito repellent and soap and something we hope will help with the sewer smells in our flats.

Then we went back to the student dormitory, which has just a few people there, and visited for an hour or two.

I came back and was really tired, but David stayed. There, on the wall! HIM! WHOP!! Yes, PETA, I killed a mosquito, a very content one judging from the mess he made. With my bare hands and no remorse! Never to attack me again. Mwah ha hah!

I plugged in the mosquito repellent and took a nap, then got up and cooked a little meal. It is always harder to cook in Europe because times and temperatures and other numbers just don't seem to correspond right. We had little chickens, though not really Cornish game hens, three bean seasoned veggies, fresh tomatoes (just as plastic as the stuff we have in the states), and of course, David's frites.

I need to get some ice cream. For some reason, ice cream is extra good here.

Yes, food is quite pricy here, except for veggies. The beans and tomatoes together were just about a dollar.

Day in Antwerp

We are looking for linen for the museum to make costumes. I found out last night at dinner about a linen shop about a mile away. David and I went this morning and found out they are closing at 6 this evening -- permanently! I took pictures and emailed them to the museum of the stuff that was on sale, but because of the time difference and the fact that it is all still over thirty dollars a yard,

I stopped at my friend Annie's. Annie lived through World War II and is now a widow who owns a small shop. She speaks wonderful English and is always happy to see me. We visited for quite a while. It breaks my heart to leave her. She needs someone to adopt her.

Then I went to my chocolate shop and visited with my friends there. They still haven't perfected the decalorinator.

I have posted a few pictures. Hope you like them!

Safe and Sound

Yes, we are in Belgium. The flight was uneventful. There was a gentleman there on his way to Latvia -- to meet a long-lost sister (lost during World War II) he had located on Facebook! The flat is the same as always. It was great to have Jim meet us at the airport. I'm glad to be back. Hey! I'm in Belgium! How cool is that!